Came to Phantom Divers from Los Angeles to get my PADI certification. Ramon was my very knowledgable, friendly and fun instructor. He was very thorough in making sure I understood the theories and applications of recreational diving and was also patient in helping me familiarize myself with equipment usage. The locations where we dove were very beautiful. Playa del Carmen is rich with diverse aquatic life. You will not be disappointed. read more

Feeling pretty defeated after having dove with Phantom Divers. I've never experienced a bad dive until diving with them. I suppose it started when I arrived, and I was the only one not smoking at the dive shop. But what I truly didn't expect was to be the only person not smoking on the small boat of about six of us, including the DM who also smoked on board. As a non-smoker, it was a disgusting experience (and an intimidating experience on board with all of the gases). The DM certainly didn't care if I was bothered by the secondhand smoke. I didn't appreciate breathing in their smoke before a dive, nor did I appreciate the ashes/embers flying around and getting on me and my gear. I brought along all of my equipment with the exception of fins, which I rented. Rate off the bat, at the beginning of my dive, I had issues with the fins. They unhooked from my boots when I was maybe 30-40' down. The dive master insisted on grabbing them and re-hooking them to me. I could feel his distrust in me, making me question myself, even though I've done more difficult dives. I began to get anxiety as he seemed to babysit me. I got to a point where I started to have a panic attack, first time ever underwater. When I was through panicking, I advised the DM that I wanted to end my dive, as I was no longer comfortable. He did not let me. He forced me to continue the dive. What's that rule about not calling a dive if you're not comfortable? As a last note, when booking the dive, I asked if it was a boat dive, and I was told yes (I have a hip issue making shore dives difficult). It was actually a shore to boat dive, where you have to walk along rocks in the water with your gear to the boat. I had originally booked several dives, but after that experience I cancelled the remaining dives. read more

Tuesday, June 6, 2023 me along with two others took the day to dive with phantom divers. Our instructor Misra talked to us and instructed us in the pool over the tank, clearing water out of goggles, etc. I was having difficulty breathing under but Misra guided me through it. When we got to the diving spot Misra guided me down and helped calm me down and helped slow my breathing down. He was the best we could have asked for with a sense of humor too, he seriously was amazing and very helpful. The dive was beautiful and we already plan on coming back soon! I can't wait to book again through phantom it is seriously an experience of a lifetime that everyone should see one day!! read more

Phantom Divers - Scuba Diving Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

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Zoomedia124#I had an amazing time. Very knowledgeable staff, very safe, totally awesome experience. Santiago was a great instructor and dive master and made sure we were all comfortable and technically proficient before going down. I'll be back on my next trip! read more

Phantom Divers - Scuba Diving Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

10/10!! Me and my boyfriend completed the open water dive certification through phantom divers and it was the best experience!! Our instructor, Polo, was incredible. I was very nervous and a beginner and he was very patient and encouraging. Every one of the employees was super friendly and welcoming. They offered free lockers which was nice. All the locations they took us to were beautiful and we got to see some cool stuff. I highly recommend them! read more

Phantom Divers - Scuba Diving Near Me - Playa del Carmen, ROO

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Super happy with my experience. I did 3 separate dive trips with them, wrecks, reefs and Cenotes. They were amazing. One of the reasons I initially chose Phantom was their responsiveness with my inquiries via email for about 3 weeks before my vacation. Definitely had the trip of a lifetime. Marco was such a great dive guide, can say thanks enough. read more

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Great dive shop in Playa del Carmen. I came here for my first scuba experience. The instructors here are very passionate about helping you have a good experience. Highly recommend going here if you are in the area for scuba experience and diving needs. read more

Dive with the shop for 4 days. Enjoy everyone I met. Unlike other shops, phantom organize the dives in small groups. Boats are smaller. Service is good. Cenotes cavern and cave dive is a must. BTW PayPal charged 5 % for credit card. Bring cash and save some $. All the ATM has a service charge fee too. read more

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I would NOT recommend this scuba shop for beginners. When I arrived at the shop I filled out a few forms. There were 2 questions on the form that asked if I suffer from motion sickness and/ or sea sickness - to both I replied with a "YES." They never asked about this information or offered until I had already paid and we were on the boat that the water was really choppy that day. I had also never dived before or breathed through a scuba regulator, which they were well aware of. So now, you have a puking girl in the middle of the ocean being told to put a contraption in her mouth and swim 40 feet underwater. Are you kidding me?? I spent the next hour+ in the boat feeling like I was dying. Of course it's not their fault that I was suffering from motion sickness, but I would have never gone out if they had given me a lesson breathing though a regulator close to shore. When I got back to the shop I did not even ask for a refund. However, what I did ask for was a credit should my boyfriend ever come back and want to go again. (Side note: we were clearly Americans here on vacation. The likelihood of us coming back is slim to none - I just asked for this really to make myself feel a little better about throwing more than $100 down the hole). The lady showed no sympathy and simply responded, "That's not how it works." Save your money and go somewhere that cares. read more

I highly recommend Phantom Divers. These guys are great. I've never been disappointed with any of the various options they provide. I've done local dives, night dives, bull shark encounter. Cenote, and the Cozumel trip. They are always really helpful in every way. I forgot my dive camera battery on this trip and was thought I was probably screwed. The staff at Phantom called there gear rep and I had a battery the next day and for less than the original quote. They are a top notch dive shop. Prices are great. They have lockers at the shop to keep your stuff dry and secure along with a small area to change. Boats for the local dived are just a short 2 minute walk. This isn't a luxury option but does that really matter once you're in the water? Fantastic service and facility. read more

Great little shop, very personal attention. Great night dives. Lots of turtles on other reefs. Ramon was great with our daughters. Took them and made them very good Certified Divers. Totally trust him with the girls. They now love diving! read more

We had not been diving in a while and so we paid for a refresher course, which ended up being a private dive guide. Charlie, was excellent. I panicked a little when I first got in the water but he was able to calm me down. My partner had an emergency while diving (nothing to do with the equipment) and Charlie pretty much fought with him to save his life. He triaged him afterwards and treated him promptly. I'm so grateful to Charlie for sacrificing his safety to make sure he was ok. A note to all: Remember that diving can be very dangerous if you do not follow the safety rules. Make sure you feel completely comfortable and knowledgeable before going in the water. If you haven't been diving in a while I would recommend you start with shallow dives and do practice exercises in a pool. Happy diving. read more

Awesome experience. This was our first time scuba diving and they trained us that day. We were a little nervous but Marco made us feel very safe and confident. One of my favorite things I have ever done - definitely recommend doing this. read more

Crappy - Low standards - My friend ran out of air mid way through his FIRST DIVE EVER and the instructors were too busy clicking pictures and finding things to see to look at him signalling that i'm out of air. He ultimately ascended on his own and shouted for help and was rescued by a random boat. If you'd like to live, I suggest you skip Phantom. read more

Not Safe! Everything in a hurry! With tons of photos! I am so sad I picked Phantom to take my wife for her discovery. First we were told that we were going to have a short session at a pool for her to feel comfortable and then 2 shallow dives in the sea. Once we arrived for the discovery first we found out that there was not going to be pool part. In that moment me, an advance diver that has being out of this world for years, should have pull out and stop it. However, I thought they may really make it very slow in shallow waters. I was also told that I was allowed to be with her during the immersions and that would kind of count for me as a refresher. However, again in the last moment they changed that and charged me more for a refreshment course. Finally, the explanation started in a room, and David, our instructor, went fast by the most important rules. Really Fast! I thought that later we were going to have some review of everything in the boat. However, again I was wrong on believing on the proffesionalism of these people. In the boat there was no second review and he never checked if the divers understood. Never beginners were asked to even breath with the support system before getting in the water. Once in the water I expected it to get relax and try things before getting the people 5 meters under the water. But again I was wrong. My wife was clearly not ready and David made us hurry up under the water. As we all know, breathing is easy and my wife was able to get to the bottom and did not even had problems with compensation. However, once in the bottom he asked her to do exercises of taking out the water from her glasses and then taking out the breath system and putting it on again. The glasses part my wife understood and got right. However, she was not able of putting back on the breathing system and breathing again. She did not know she had to blow after getting it back in her mouth or flush it. This was never practiced before going down. And David only explained it once and did not check if divers understood. Here, of course the disaster started. My wife had to go up to breath suffering a huge panic. Then, once up, David realized that the other group of divers were already up and made my wife to hurry up and get down again in order to try again. My wife was clearly not ready to get down again that fast. The signs were clear! However, David made us go down again by threating with ending the dive because the time was running. Yes, she said she was ok, but I would have made her relax more. And go throw the parts of the exercise again. Obviously, we went down again and my wife couldn´t recover the breathing again once she was ask to take it off. This was the end for my wife´s diving life. Thank you Phantom! The day before I explained them how important was for me to make my wife first dive a success in order to engage her on this world. Well, I guess for them, time was more important. I was hoping to expend 4 more days doing dives with you guys and obviously now I rather go to any other place. How was the rest of the experience? My wife calmed down very fast and asked me to please go and do the other dives with the rest of the group. I did. Then I could see how David handled the other 2 begginers for their second dive. First of all, he never set up partners. Then, once under the water he was more busy taking pictures than on checking the divers. A girl got to the surface twice because of her not undertanding of buoyance without the instructor realizing. But, yes, he took tons of pictures that later Phantom will be able to sell to that couple! Congratulations Phantom you exchanged the $1000 I planned on expending with you guys for maybe selling some pictures to that couple. Later on I email the managers in order for them to know what happened. In answer they offered us a complete discover for my wife for the following day. Yes. The following day. No flexibility understanding the extress they already created for us. In resume this place may be ok for divers with a lot of experience who can take care of their selfs. Terrible for beginners. You will get a photografer instead of an instructor and their time will matter more than your experience. Instructor-photographer does not do good safety checks of the equipment and does not teach them neither to their divers. Discoveries are from 12 to 4. Our made a record time and at 3:45 we were already done and dress after taking a shower. This included a super fast theory class, dive in shallow waters with exercises, and 2 regular dives. If velocity is what you need this is your place if you rather safety Go any other diving place in the area! read more

I need to warn people about this company- they are incredibly irresponsible. We were calmly in the middle of our Bull Shark dive with another company, sitting on the ocean floor holding on the line and enjoying the surroundings. Phantom Divers arrived with a group, one of their guides descending to the ocean floor in a super hero pose, covered in chain mail, holding what looked like a spear gun. Conditions that day were a little rough, with a fairly strong current. Our guide indicated that we should move to make room for all the new people, and we did, moving along the saftey line. One of the chainmail-clad guides began rushing us, yelling so loudly we could hear him under 55' of water. He was coming at us so aggressively that a couple of our group let go of the line. These were not experienced divers. Surrounded by sharks. A mother and a son, drifting in the currwnt trying ro get back to our group, and all the while the Phantom Divers guide just kept trying to push us further and further from their group. There was no need for this aggression. There was plenty of room for everyone, and we had been very polite, trying to make space for the newcomers. The Phantom Divers guides showed zero regard for the saftey of the humans who had no paid them, and appeared as if they were going to antagonizing the sharks for the entertainment of their group. I understand that Phantom had a lot to do with pioneering the Bull Shark dives, but that fact does not give them ownership of sharks or ocean. I saw very little evidence of respect for human or shark life, and I do not think this company should be supported. There are better companies out there. Our guide tried to give us a little more time under water, but having been chased out of the main area where the sharks were, we soon ascended. read more